The fifth one listed is one that I have. It is very good but throws a lot at you fast. You will need to make a lot of use of flashcards, etc. Do you know Anki? I use it to make automated flashcards. Its pretty good.

नस्वातो नापिपरतो नद्वाभ्यां नाप्यहेतुतः उत्पन्ना जातु विद्यन्ते भावाः क्वचन केचनThere absolutely are no things, nowhere and none, that arise anew, neither out of themselves, nor out of non-self, nor out of both, nor at random.सर्वं तथ्यं न वा तथ्यं तथ्यं चातथ्यम् एव च नैवातथ्यं नैव तथ्यम् एतद् बुद्धानुशासनम्All is so, or all is not so, both so and not so, neither so nor not so. This is the Buddha's teaching.一切實非實亦實亦非實
非實非非實是名諸佛法

The fifth one listed is one that I have. It is very good but throws a lot at you fast. You will need to make a lot of use of flashcards, etc. Do you know Anki? I use it to make automated flashcards. Its pretty good.

Those are all very good books. I have not read Schuessler's work though. You might also want to throw in Pulleyblank's Grammar, and perhaps Fuller's Introduction once you've finished Rouzer. Also have a look at Harbaugh's Chinese Characters dictionary, which is very useful, generally speaking, in looking up characters as well as their traditional etymologies.

If and when you complete those books, you could move onto more advanced textbooks and readers such as Readings in Classical Chinese, and Literary Chinese for Advanced Beginners (both published by SMC, Taiwan). That ought to bridge the gulf between reading a primer and plunging straight into the original texts quite nicely.

The fifth one listed is one that I have. It is very good but throws a lot at you fast. You will need to make a lot of use of flashcards, etc. Do you know Anki? I use it to make automated flashcards. Its pretty good.

Thank you.

Somehow I miscounted the links in your OP. It is the fourth, Rouzer's, I meant to refer to.

नस्वातो नापिपरतो नद्वाभ्यां नाप्यहेतुतः उत्पन्ना जातु विद्यन्ते भावाः क्वचन केचनThere absolutely are no things, nowhere and none, that arise anew, neither out of themselves, nor out of non-self, nor out of both, nor at random.सर्वं तथ्यं न वा तथ्यं तथ्यं चातथ्यम् एव च नैवातथ्यं नैव तथ्यम् एतद् बुद्धानुशासनम्All is so, or all is not so, both so and not so, neither so nor not so. This is the Buddha's teaching.一切實非實亦實亦非實
非實非非實是名諸佛法

Those are all very good books. I have not read Schuessler's work though. You might also want to throw in Pulleyblank's Grammar, and perhaps Fuller's Introduction once you've finished Rouzer. Also have a look at Harbaugh's Chinese Characters dictionary, which is very useful, generally speaking, in looking up characters as well as their traditional etymologies.

If and when you complete those books, you could move onto more advanced textbooks and readers such as Readings in Classical Chinese, and Literary Chinese for Advanced Beginners (both published by SMC, Taiwan). That ought to bridge the gulf between reading a primer and plunging straight into the original texts quite nicely.

The fifth one listed is one that I have. It is very good but throws a lot at you fast. You will need to make a lot of use of flashcards, etc. Do you know Anki? I use it to make automated flashcards. Its pretty good.

Thank you.

Somehow I miscounted the links in your OP. It is the fourth, Rouzer's, I meant to refer to.

I would then suggest reading through (and making notes) from Pulleyblank's grammar, and working through Rouzer fairly intensely. Barnes' "Chinese Through Poetry" can be considered an instructive diversion; pleasant and pedagogical, but it will really come into its own once you begin reading sutras which contain a lot of verse.

Once you've made a certain amount of progress with the books listed above, you could then move on to more specifically Buddhist texts, and John Kieschnick's free primers are an excellent place to start. In fact, they're the only place to start in the absence of any other similar works (for the time being). https://religiousstudies.stanford.edu/p ... t-writings

I would then suggest reading through (and making notes) from Pulleyblank's grammar, and working through Rouzer fairly intensely. Barnes' "Chinese Through Poetry" can be considered an instructive diversion; pleasant and pedagogical, but it will really come into its own once you begin reading sutras which contain a lot of verse.

Once you've made a certain amount of progress with the books listed above, you could then move on to more specifically Buddhist texts, and John Kieschnick's free primers are an excellent place to start. In fact, they're the only place to start in the absence of any other similar works (for the time being). https://religiousstudies.stanford.edu/p ... t-writings

I would then suggest reading through (and making notes) from Pulleyblank's grammar, and working through Rouzer fairly intensely. Barnes' "Chinese Through Poetry" can be considered an instructive diversion; pleasant and pedagogical, but it will really come into its own once you begin reading sutras which contain a lot of verse.

Once you've made a certain amount of progress with the books listed above, you could then move on to more specifically Buddhist texts, and John Kieschnick's free primers are an excellent place to start. In fact, they're the only place to start in the absence of any other similar works (for the time being). https://religiousstudies.stanford.edu/p ... t-writings

Super, thank you so much for this! I've got Pulleyblank and just downloaded the Stanford primers. I'm not stopping until I can read those texts!
gassho
Rory

Namu Kanzeon Bosatsu
Chih-I:
The Tai-ching states "the women in the realms of Mara, Sakra and Brahma all neither abandoned ( their old) bodies nor received (new) bodies. They all received buddhahood with their current bodies (genshin)" Thus these verses state that the dharma nature is like a great ocean. No right or wrong is preached (within it) Ordinary people and sages are equal, without superiority or inferiority
Paul, Groner "The Lotus Sutra in Japanese Culture"eds. Tanabe p. 58https://www.tendai-usa.org/

I would then suggest reading through (and making notes) from Pulleyblank's grammar, and working through Rouzer fairly intensely. Barnes' "Chinese Through Poetry" can be considered an instructive diversion; pleasant and pedagogical, but it will really come into its own once you begin reading sutras which contain a lot of verse.

Once you've made a certain amount of progress with the books listed above, you could then move on to more specifically Buddhist texts, and John Kieschnick's free primers are an excellent place to start. In fact, they're the only place to start in the absence of any other similar works (for the time being). https://religiousstudies.stanford.edu/p ... t-writings

Super, thank you so much for this! I've got Pulleyblank and just downloaded the Stanford primers. I'm not stopping until I can read those texts!
gassho
Rory

I have almost all the books mentioned, in bookform or PDF, or both. But I have searched everywhere, and am not able to find introduction to classical chinese by John Cikoski.
According to rewievs one of the very best books on classical chinese.
Information on how and where to buy the book would be very much appreciated.

I did my undergrad work in Chinese language/history/literature and loved translating Tang dynasty poetry. That was many many years ago but the one book I always recommended was this:https://www.amazon.com/Gateway-Chinese- ... 0835125378
It requires you to memorize around 300 characters to start but then it builds from there with each lesson. Each lesson includes actual passages from the classics...Kong Zi, Lao Zi, and Zhuang Zi, as well as a few excerpts from some of the 4 Ming/Qing Classics. There may be better out there now...been a long time but Prof Faurot really did her homework in putting this together. Hope this helps...also doesnt hurt to have Matthews Chinese dictionary at your side..its very old, a bit pricey, doesn't use pinyin or tones but once you understand how to look up characters with it it will prove to be invaluable in that it contains many ancient meanings for characters not found in many modern dictionarieshttps://www.amazon.com/Matthews-Chinese ... dictionary

"But if you know how to observe yourself, you will discover your real nature, the primordial state, the state of Guruyoga, and then all will become clear because you will have discovered everything"-Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche

There are many kinds of classical chinese and you can get easily lost in it all. Confucian philosophy and government documents and Daoist and medical and Buddhist classical chinese are all so different, it's almost like learning completely different languages. Don't get lost!

There are many kinds of classical chinese and you can get easily lost in it all. Confucian philosophy and government documents and Daoist and medical and Buddhist classical chinese are all so different, it's almost like learning completely different languages. Don't get lost!